Too Hard to Breathe
by miz independent
Summary: At age 31, Lizzie has a large family and a wonderful husband. A visit from her middle school friends turns her whole world upside down. Follows through a family member's POV. Rating just to be safe. Is better than you think, trust me! R&R!
1. Meet the Family

**Too Hard to Breathe**

A/N: Hi! I'm new to the writing scene, so this is my first story. You may find it pretty different from others, but I honestly don't care what you think. I don't like reading flames so if you hate my story, keep your comments to yourself. This chapter is just an introduction through a new character's POV. I will continue adding chapters as I get new reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the TV show Lizzie McGuire. I do own the plot and all the characters that have never appeared on the show.

Prologue

Aubrey's POV

Hi. My name's Aubrey. You're thinking, who's _Aubrey_? Well, I am one of the daughters of Elizabeth and Danny Kessler.

Yes, I have siblings. Many. All female. I am the second oldest of ten girls. My parents are both 31 years old. How, may I ask, did my parents end up having ten children by 31?

Well, as my mother puts it, she and my dad were totally head over heels in love at age 15, and yes, they crossed the line a little. There actually wasn't really a line, since they loved each other so much, so they kind of crossed the invisible line. (My mother's words, not mine.)

So, in about January of 2004, my mother found out she was pregnant with my older sister, Jeana. So they got married, but a year later they couldn't control themselves and they wound up with me.

My grandparents are really rich and stuff, and yes, they were pissed at my dad for screwing my mom over, but somehow they forgave him and let them live in their house until they were about 23. But my grandparents got very, very, _very _angry when my mother got pregnant _again_ at age seventeen with the first set of twins in my family, Peyton and Emma.

Since my grandparents were _so _rich and that my dad was _so_ spoiled that we were all in good care (you know....with all the child support and medical stuff). My parents didn't even go to_ college_, for Pete's sake, but, as both my parents say, they don't want us messing up as much as they did, so we are all going to college. Except Mika. But we'll get to that in a minute.

Anyway, at age nineteen....do I even have to say it? You can see it coming by now, right? My sister Reese was born and my parents were _so_ overjoyed about their little family that it didn't even seem that they were only nineteen and had been kicked out of school and....you know what I'm talking about, so I'm not going to waste my time talking about it.

My parents wanted to stop right there, so they did. Well, for a year at least. In 2009, Mallorie was born. Ugh. It's not that I hate Mallorie or anything. But can't my parents develop at least ONE male child??? Geez. Emma says we all might end up lesbians when we're older, and it'll be all Mom and Dad's fault.

So there were we, two 20-year-olds and five little girls living in a small loft (We had moved out of the Kessler household before Mom had the twins). It was quite strange, really, and I vaguely remember my mom getting all teary as she went through old photographs of her two best friends from middle school, Michelle and Garry.

No, wait. Their names were Marina and Gregory.

No, no, no, I have this totally screwed up. The girl's name was Miranda and the guy's nickname was Gordo, but his real name was David something.

That's it. My mom told me a few years ago that she and Gordo had a little thing going on, but then Danny showed up and they both went gaga for each other.

Okay, let's keep going. When my parents were 21, Cassie was born. By then the loft was getting crowded, so, as my parents decided, if they get "lucky" again, we would buy a small house (with the money of my father's parents, of course).

And lucky they were. On October 11th, 2011, at 3:45PM, IN THE LOFT, (it's a long story), the second and final (hopefully final) set of twins were born. Mika, who is three minutes older, and Bailie. My parents chose to take a _real_ break from baby making, and fortunatly, it worked, but eight (yes, I can hardly believe it myself) years later, Sheryl Marie Kessler was born. The last (at least that's what's planned) member of the Kessler family.

Yes, I know, I keep going on and on, but this has got to be told, so you know everything that's going on.

I'm going to the next level: describing my whole family, from top to bottom.

My father, Daniel (or Danny, as he prefers to be called) Kessler, is five months older than my mother. He's tall, with sandy blonde hair. He is very attractive, if I do say so myself. He works at some place a few cities away, where he is a store manager. It's kind of embarrassing. The store is some huge department store, so....never mind. He's a pretty cool dad. He lets us go to the mall and do whatever we want. Except the younger ones, who sit around and watch kiddie TV all day. All the older ones (Reese and up) have a strict curfew and have to do an equal share of chores.

My mother, Elizabeth Kessler (her maiden name is McGuire in case you were wondering) is taller with short blonde hair. She's very pretty, I have to say that. She's super nice, she buys us anything, lets us eat junk food (as long as we eat healthy meals and exercise daily), takes us to the movies, and never embarrasses us. She says her mother embarrassed her nearly every day and she vowed to herself that she would never treat her children like that. My mom works part-time at a drugstore and takes those online classes at home. She can also be really strict, too, and makes us do chores for her.

My older sister, Jeana Miranda Kessler, is currently sixteen years old. She is so pretty, with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She gives us lots of advice about everything, like makeup and high school and boys....she's so great.

Next comes Peyton and Emma. They're both fifteen, the first set of twins, and completely different from each other. Peyton has long shiny blond hair and brown eyes. She's into fashion and boys, but I've caught her playing floor hockey in the basement while no one else was home. She only wears pinks, purples, and some shades of blue and yellow. She's nice too, and helps out a lot around the house. As for Emma, she's into sports. All of them. She's very athletic. She especially loves soccor, hockey, and volleyball. She's a bit shorter than Peyton, and has blue eyes and mid-length brown hair (wonder where she got that from?).

Reese is the next in the bunch. She's twelve, and is Emma and Peyton mixed together. She likes sports as much as Emma does, but is still worried about the way she looks. She also likes boys, and has a huge love for animals. She's nearly as tall as me, has brown hair and freckles, brown eyes, and is a vegetarian. I think she's great, too, because she says she looks up to me.

Mallorie is eleven. She has blond hair and green eyes and is a bit on the chunky side. She has a great smile, but if she would just quit stuffing her face with chocolate behind Mom's back every day, she have much more luck with boys when she's older. She hates sports and fashion but she loves school, her friends, the cinema, junk food, and Jeana. It's all about Jeana in Mallorie's mind.

Cassie is the second closest to me (first place is Jeana) even though she's only ten. She's super friendly and loves to write. She's also a good singer, but I'm the only one who knows that. She has short blond hair and blue eyes.

I'm getting tired out here, so I'm going to tell you about the terrible two as fast as possible. Mika and Bailie the second set of twins, as I said before. Mika is older, has long blonde hair and brown eyes, and is very sneaky. She and Bailie try to steal everyone's money and sneak out of bed after lights out to watch silent TV. Bailie is sneakier than Mika. She has blond hair and brown eyes too, and she is identical to Mika. She thinks of the best pranks and whines a lot. They are currently nine years old.

Last but least is Sheryl. She's one year old, so I don't know much about her except that she has very short curly blond hair and greenish-blue eyes. She cries a lot and tries to bite things. On her bad days she's as cute a button. And I don't think buttons are cute at all. On her good days she's cuter than a little kitten. Kittens are very, very cute.

Oh, yeah...I forgot to tell you about me. My name is Aubrey Elizabeth Kessler. I'm fifteen years old and long wavy blond hair and blue eyes, like Jeana. I love my boyfriend Tyler, singing, biking, swimming, and way too much to mention. I think that I'm nice...but I don't like judging myself because I'll sound like Carla Jacobs, who is a huge bitch that no one would ever want to be like.

Well, that's my life. I guess it's okay, if you count the whole teen parents thing out. I'll be back later to show you a day in the life of Aubrey Kessler. 'Til then, see ya.


	2. Monday Morning

A/N: Thanks so much for the nice reviews! I know I only got about three, but I have nothing else to do and I have this huge creative jolt inside of me, so I want to start writing! Here's chapter two!

To JoJoLookAlike1220: I'm not trying to be mean, but I've read about a hundred Lizzie/Gordo stories and I wanted to do something different. I'm totally sick of it, it's been done millions of times already, and although I do like L/G, I wanted to be unique. This is my story, and I can do what I want with it, so no, Lizzie should NOT be with Gordo. This isn't your everyday LM story.

T Dot Chick: Thanks for your comments! You sounded totally nice with your thing about Aubrey saying that about Mallorie. Aubrey is a nice person but she does have bad things to say about people, like lots of people do. You can't like everybody, lol. I love long reviews, so thanks!

Alley Parker: Thanks for the review! You were the first one to give feeback : )

**IMPORTANT:** I've decided to change the age of Mika and Bailie to six years old, because there's some bit of behavior that a nine year old wouldn't do. I don't want to go back to chapter one and change it, so just pretend they were six years old to begin with.

Just to let you know, Lizzie isn't really going to be in the story much until a few chapters later. This is just the life of one of Lizzie's daughters, but it's still LM so keep your shirt on....

**Chapter Two**

Aubrey's POV

It was Monday morning, the second week of October. My eyes cracked open, but immediatly closed again because I was blinded by the sunlight streaming in through the window. I shielded my eyes, opened them again and glanced at the bed beside me. Emma was still sleeping, her face buried in her pillow and her messy brown curls sticking up everywhere.

I sat up and threw the covers off of me. I looked at my alarm clock. The red numbers read 7:13 A.M. I looked at the other end of the room to see who was still asleep. Emma was still half dead but had started to snore rather loudly. Jeana's bed was neatly made and Reese had just opened her eyes.

As you can see, I share a room with my sisters. Not all of them, of course. The room isn't big enough to fit all ten of us. There are three bedrooms in our house. The five oldest sleep in the room at the end of the hall. That's me, Jeana, Emma, Peyton, and Reese. The twins share a double bed, and Jeana, Reese and I have our own beds. Mom and Dad share one room near the back of the house. The youngest ones, Mallorie, Cassie, Mika, Bailie, and Sheryl share the other room. I feel sorry for everyone but Sheryl, because since Sheryl is only a year old, the girls have to put up with her. That means they have go through Sheryl wailing for Mom in the middle of the night (Well, everyone does, but since they are in the same room as her, it's loudest for them), the diaper changes (the change table takes up a lot of space), and all the toys scattered on the floor (There are at least three sprained ankles a month from that bunch). I'm glad I'm one of the oldest.

I unbuttoned my pajama top and threw it onto the floor. I grabbed my bra that was hanging from the headboard and put it on.

"Ugh, do you really have to do that in here, Brie?" Reese croaked from her bed.

I turned around. "Everyone in here does it. You're acting as if we have never seen each other in our underwear," I told her.

Reese sighed and sat up. She chewed on the insides of her cheeks for a minute, then yawned. She stared at her clock, then fell back onto her pillow.

I stood up and walked over to my closet. Well, it's not really mine. We have two closets in our room. One is for Peyton and Reese. The other is for me, Jeana, and Emma. They're both organized so we know whose is whose.

I reached into my part of the closet and pulled out my black t-shirt that has a picture of Adam Cohen on it. It was a birthday gift from my best friend, Becky. I grabbed my baggy jeans that are sort of faded and a bit ripped but wearable. I ran over to my bed, and threw them on top of my blue comforter. I was just about to put my t-shirt on when The Terrible Two barged in, leaving the door open.

"What are you doing in here!?" I screeched, covering myself up with the t-shirt.

The twins ignored me. They jumped on top of Peyton and Emma's bed and started jumping up and down.

"Wake up Emma! Wake up Emma!" they chanted. Emma's body bounced up in the air, but she was still asleep. She gained a little concious and turned around, so that she was laying on her back. Mika said down on her stomach, reached out and pulled Emma's left eyelid so that her eye was revealed. It looked creepy.

"Emma wake up! Mommy says it's your shower day!" Mika said to her in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah," Bailie chimed in, crawling out from under the covers, "If you don't get out of bed right now and take it, you won't be able to shower until your next day!"

We all have shower days. Three times a week we get to shower. It totally sucks. My days are Sunday nights at nine o'clock (so I'm already clean on Monday mornings), Tuesday mornings at seven, and Friday mornings at seven forty. Sounds gross, huh? My parents want to save water. It's not like we run around getting dirty each day. Actually, that's a bit more like Mika and Bailie. They get baths four times a week.

"Ufffgh," Emma mumbled sleepily, "Geh offa me."

Bailie and Mika froze. They glanced at each other with confused looks on their faces. Finally, they both said, "Okay!", then jumped off the bed and ran over to me.

Oh, no. This happens at least once a month. They look around my area of the room and ask me questions about everything. Here they go....

"Hi Aubrey!"

"Hi Aubrey!"

"You took your shower yesterday, right, Aubrey?"

"How's your booooyfriend?"

"Oooooh! Kissy kissy!"

"Hey Aubrey, how come Mommy lets you keep a box of candy in your room? You know that's not allowed!"

"That's not candy, it's-" I started to tell Mika, but it was too late. She had already ripped the wrapping off the tampon.

"Heeeey, this isn't candy!"

"Maybe it's not supposed to look like candy!"

"Lemme try it!"

"No!" I told them just as Bailie was about to bite the tampon. "It's not candy!"

The twins suddenly lost interest in the "candy" and had crawled under my bed.

"Hey, I found a bra!" Bailie called out.

"Come out from under there!" I demanded.

The girls rolled out from my bed, holding the bra that had gone missing a few weeks ago.

"Ooooh, Aubrey has a braaaaaa," they sang in unison.

"Get out!" I shrieked, pointing at the door. The girls looked terrified and dashed out of the room. I stomped towards the door and slammed it. I know I shouldn't be this angry about stuff like that, but you've never met Mika and Bailie.

I was back at my bed and started to get dressed. I heard Reese yawn again, then the sound of her getting out of bed. I unbraided the braids that I slept with, then sprayed on detangler and brushed my hair. It takes a long time to deal with long hair. I grabbed a ponytail holder and wound my hair into a ponytail, then crossed the room to get to the dresser Reese and I share. I opened the first drawer and pulled out my makeup bag. I dumped the contents out onto the top of the dresser and just started to apply my eye makeup when Reese interrupted my concentration.

"Ew, Aubrey, you didn't even freshen up!" she said, disgusted. She was making her bed, but doing a horrible job at it. She picked up one of her pillows and threw it at Emma, who had miraculously fallen asleep again. Emma jumped about a mile in the air when the pillow hit her face. She grabbed it and chucked it back at Reese. They became immersed in a pillow fight and I just stood there, watching. I decided to go brush my teeth so I left the room.

I walked down the hall and into the washroom. You'd think that at 7:30 in the morning any house would be very quiet. But this is the Kessler house, where the word 'quiet' does not exist. I looked down the hall and saw half of Mom's body pouring milk into either Mika or Bailie's cereal. Sheryl was sitting in her high chair, screaming at the top of her lungs. I walked a bit closer to them and poked my head around the corner. I saw Peyton, Mallorie, and Cassie watching TV in the living room. Peyton looked no different than any other day; she was wearing a pink tank top covered by a stretchy lavender sweater with the buttons undone and a baby blue skirt. Mallorie was still wearing her pajamas and was eating cocoa puffs straight from the box. Cassie was dressed in a red t-shirt and black track pants. Dad had already left for work and would probably be getting breakfast at some fast food joint as I'm speaking. Everything seemed normal.

I turned around and went into the bathroom, where I found Jeana brushing her teeth. Her curly blonde hair wasn't curly today. I guess she straightened earlier. Her hair seemed much longer straight than it did curly. I like it curly better. It makes her look much prettier.

I picked up my toothbrush without saying a word, then grabbed the toothpaste and squeezed it onto the brush. I started to brush my teeth. I started thinking about my boyfriend when Reese came in. She took her toothbrush and put toothpaste on the pointy bristles. I finished brushing, rinsed, then washed my face. I dried off, then went back to our room to change.

I opened the door and found Emma wide awake and brushing her hair. I went over to the dresser and started to reapply my eye makeup. Nothing exciting happened as I was doing that, unless you count Mom coming in to tell us that we were going to be late if we didn't hurry exciting. We don't have to leave until 8:20, so how could we be late if it were only 7:40?

I was about to put on my lipgloss when I realized I didn't have any. There as none on the top of the dresser. Where could my lipgloss have gone? I had about three different ones in my makeup bag on Friday. Let's see...I have the minty one that I wear when my lips get really chapped, the cotton candy one I wear when I go on dates with Tyler, and my all--time favourite one, vanilla frosting, that I wear to school each day.

Damn! Now I remember! Sheryl ate the mint one on Saturday, The Terrible Two melted the Make-Out-uh, I mean the cotton candy one in the microwave yesterday, and I ran out of the vanilla frosting on Friday. How perfect. I guess I'll have to leave early so I can pick up a new one at the store on my way to school.

I gathered my makeup into the bag, grabbed my backpack, which is actually a messenger bag that I decorated with pins and patches, threw my makeup bag into it, and left the room.

I walked quickly down the hall and into the kitchen, where Sheryl had stopped crying and Mom was making pancakes.

"Hey, Mom," I greeted with a smile as I opened the fridge. I looked inside and pulled out the pitcher of water. I closed the fridge and walked over to the cupboard and took a glass from it.

"Pancakes or toast?" Mom asked as she flipped a pancake.

"Neither," I said as I put the pitcher back in the fridge and grabbed an apple, "I gotta stop at the store on the way, so I have to leave five minutes earlier."

I leave for school at around 8:15, so I can pick up either my friend Becky or my boyfriend Tyler. It changes daily. I walk to school. Today I would have to leave at 8:00 because I want to go to the store to get some more lipgloss, which means I have to get the 8:00 bus, which will take me to Mike's Drug Store (not the one my mom works at), which is only five minutes away from Tyler's house So if I leave at eight, take the five minute bus ride, grab a lipgloss in the store, pay, then walk to Tyler's, I'd be there at around eight fifteenish. So maybe we could even pick up Becky. Sounds good to me.

"What do you need from the store, Reese?" Mom asked. She wiped her forehead.

I stared at her. "I'm Aubrey," I reminded her.

Mom continued flipping the pancakes, ignoring me.

"I need to get a lipgloss," I told her as I took a bite out of the apple, "I ran out of the ones I've got."

"Oh, Honey, why do you always have to waste your money on silly things like lipgloss?" Mom asked in a frustrated tone.

Now that's funny, because I remember Mom telling me about her teenage years when I turned 12, and she said she loved makeup and it was amazing and her favourite flavour of lipgloss was cherry and blah, blah, blah....she even showed us pictures of her and her friends at age 14. She wore fashionable clothes and lots of makeup and accessories. And now she's telling me that lipgloss is silly?

"Mom," I whined. I hardly ever whine. I only do it when I really need something and Mom wouldn't let me get it (even though the oldest ones have to use their own money to buy their own things), like now for instance. This is totally unfair.

"Mom, come on, I need this, Sheryl ate my lipgloss and Mika and Bailie melted one!" I protested.

"What happened to the other one?" Mom asked. She was now picking up the pancakes with the spatula and putting them on plates.

"I used that one up! I have my own money, so it's not like I'm asking you to give me money," I said, throwing my apple core into the garbage, "Now, if you'll exscuse me, I have to go or else I'll miss the eight o'clock bus."

I stepped into the foyer and shoved my Converse high tops on. I noticed an open packet of gum sitting on the little table beside the door. I took a piece from it and removed the wrapping. I put it in my mouth a started chewing. A burst of mint exploded in my mouth, dissolving the apple aftertaste. I grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open. "Bye!" I called out as I stepped outside and slammed the door shut. I walked down the pathway and rushed down the street to the bus stop. I glanced at my watch, which told me it was 7:50.

Just as I approached the bus stop at the corner, someone was turning around the corner and we kind of bumped into each other.

"Sorry!" we both said in unison. I rubbed my forehead and took a look to see who it was that I had banged heads with.

It was my friend Amy Baker.

"Oh, hey, Amy," I said, "What are you doing here?"

Amy sighed. "I gotta buy a new makeup bag at the drugstore," she explained, "The zipper on my old one broke."

"Oh," I replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, "I'm going there, too."

We started talking when the bus came. We got on and we were on our way the Mike's Drug Store.

So, you're thinking that I'm finished with you, right? Well, I'm not. This was only my morning. The day is just getting started.


End file.
